Tag: Encourage

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Why I’m Excited That It’s Sunday

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I see the confusion on their face or possibly it’s doubt. They wouldn’t dare call me a liar, but they might think that I’m slightly psychotic; at the very least I must be someone without a life or at best an overzealous religious nut that must have been spared a great disaster. I treat Sunday as game day like an NFL coach (not a fan) treats Superbowl Sunday. It’s that important. Our pregame show is way better and there’s little chance of a wardrobe malfunction. Let me tell you why Sunday is so important to me and why if it’s not in your life you really are missing out.

Hebrews 10:25

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

It’s “that” verse. The one they quote when they want to lay a guilt trip on you for having missed seven weeks in a row. Did you read that with a real sarcastic voice in your head, because that’s how I wrote it? I don’t use this verse very often when trying to guilt (I mean encourage) my family to go to church. They’ve likely heard it. But that doesn’t take any power away from it.

Lets you and I unpack it and then maybe by the time we get everything strung out on the bed, you’ll understand how great a trip church is.

Not forsaking…We’ve likely all been forsook. It’s that time when someone you loved stood you up. Can you remember it? That nauseous feeling in the pit of your stomach that you didn’t rank high enough to be remembered. After everything you’d done to prepare! Are you kidding? Yeah, that’s God on Sunday morning. Scroll back to creation. The first forsaking.

Genesis 3:8

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

This was the first missed church service, and it’s gone downhill from there. God had created these two beautiful people, He’d loved them and was in fellowship with them every day. And then there was separation. It all happened because of a lie. Satan had convinced Eve there was something better. Really? Something better than the One Who spoke the world into existence?

That’s what you’re missing when you don’t attend Church. Everyone is constantly searching for answers when the “Answerer” is a few miles down the road. Maybe next door. You want to know why your life is falling apart…it’s there. You want to know why bad things happen to good people… it’s there. You want to know why the people you love let you down… the answer’s there. Maybe not in one visit, it may be a two part sermon, but I’ve had those questions answered. So I know. Let’s go on…

I’m going to have to quit being so chatty.

The assembling of ourselves together. That’s your very own support group.

As the manner of some is. That’s the crazy people. Who do it again and again every Sunday because it just keeps getting better! Every week they find an answer to a question they may or may not have asked. It’s what makes sense in the world.

but exhorting one another. Exhort is encouragement and who couldn’t use some of that! It’s to press on to go on. I’m not happy all the time. There’s 20 minutes a day that I may fall apart, or go into a puddle of tears. Just 20 minutes? No, it’s been more, but since salvation in 1996 God has been so very real to me, even on the worst of days there’s been few puddles and pieces. Because God, and His people keep me together. They encourage me to go on and give me hope because they too have puddles and pieces days and I see them win victory and know that I can too. They give me words of encouragement, or actions of exhortation because that’s what the people of God do if you’re in the right church.

Is there a wrong one? If you leave feeling worse than you did when you came. Maybe.

and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. That’s game day. That’s the one I go to church for on Sunday because we don’t know if this is going to be the day when Jesus splits those skies open and then the game is over. You’ve missed your opportunity to spend eternity with the Creator and your family. You’re doomed to eternal separation. That’s why I’m excited about Church and why it’s important. Because I want everyone who loves me (or not) to know that I believe the Word of God, and the Word of God says  in John 3:18 ~ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

It’s real. That’s why I’m excited. I’ve got a home in Gloryland where my Dad, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, Brother and people I’ve never met are waiting. It’s a home without a light bill… that’ll put a shout on you! A few more than my standard 500- 700 words, but not even a drop in the bucket for what I feel about Sunday mornings and going to church. Come and find out why…

If you’ve been to one that didn’t suit you,  pray… and try again. Ask God to show you the right one.

Now that I’ve unpacked, I hope you understand that life’s always a mess, but the final destination is perfection. That’s worth waiting for.

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Hold My Mule… I’m About to Get Happy

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Proverbs 23:16

Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.

When reminiscing about the spiritual joys in my life I can seldom go too far without having Preacher Walt come into my mind. Many people have touched my life but only a few have left a thumbprint on my heart because they touched me so deeply. Walt was one such individual because he taught me how to let go of the mule. One of his favorite sayings was “Hold my mule, I’m about to get happy!” Walt was relinquishing the reins and allowing the Holy Spirit to take charge, and sure enough as soon as he did, we had a time in that service! This morning as my eyes opened at 4:30 a.m. I began to pray that God would lay a scripture on my heart that would encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ. One that cause them to be happy in the Spirit of the Lord. And as always, God is faithful. The word “speak” has been on my heart for days. But not necessarily in a good sense; more aptly thinking on how the thoughts of a person’s heart are betrayed by their lips. When I speak what’s on my heart, it’s not always the right thing to say. God said in Proverbs 23:16 that He would rejoice when we spoke right things. I have to wonder if when His reins rejoice, if they don’t loosen a little.

We are held back by the reins

I hesitate to ask some people how they are because it’s often followed by a twenty minute dissertation of how terrible their life is. They’ve made up their mind that they’re going to be miserable and they share that misery with everyone who dare to ask. I don’t want to discourage someone from asking a brother or sister for prayer because they’re going through a rough spot, that’s not what I speak of. I’m talking about ‘those’ folk, and you know who they are, that seldom ever have a good day. They don’t speak right things. They won’t let loose of anger, or bitterness and because of it their reins are held tight. They aren’t allowing God to have control, else they’d have to forgive and forget. You’ll not likely see them get happy in the Lord because their content at being miserable and their speech reflects it.

Hold my mule, I’m about to get happy!

We are Lead by the reins

When our heart is right it’s also reflected in our speech. We speak truth and encouragement; and we can feel the reins loosen a little and God working in our lives. He starts directing us and putting words in our mouth. His words. And joy begins to multiply in our heart and rather than focusing on the negative things in the world we begin to look for the good, and that too encourages us and before long we’ve thought and spoken ourselves happy! And then one day we find ourselves in the Spirit of the Lord, happy for no other reason than God gave us one more breath. Life’s not perfect, but God is. He has a plan, go with it.

We are loosed by reins

If the driver of the buggy never let loose of the reins he’d never travel very far. The horse doesn’t need the reins off to get where he’s going he needs them cracked! That’s how I feel this morning. I feel like God has cracked the reins and I’m moving. He’s doing something in my life, taking me to the next leg of the journey. A mule is said to be stubborn and content to stay put. I don’t want that.

Here, hold my mule, I’m about to get happy!

 

 

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Another Spirit… and it’s excited!

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Numbers 14:24 ~ But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

To set the stage for my message today, the children of Israel had just come upon the Promised Land. Two groups of men went out to spy upon the land and bring a report to Moses and the people. Joshua and Caleb returned full of excitement for they’d seen a land flowing with milk and honey, with food in abundance and all the provisions they would need. But the other men who went brought an evil report, seeing only impossibility and trials. Guess which report was received by the congregation of the Lord?

Why is it that within our churches an evil report is so much easier to believe and spreads like wildfire? It is that report which will be accepted and embraced for absolute truth while a spirit of revival in the soul of the saint, a good report, will be looked upon as a fleeting notion that surely will pass and takes far too much effort for everyone else to get on board that train.

One of my greater frustrations in the ministry is trying to drag people to the party; after all, it will surely end. Can you hear them? “Yes there’s joy in the camp, but we all know that when you go camping you’re not planning on staying, it’s just a vacation that will surely end with the reality of a world full of giants.” For fresh drinking water, make sure to bring the right type of water jugs. Well, me and my cockeyed optimism or my “Caleb-ism” believe that the reason those giants are in my world is help me carry the fruit God’s going to provide. Caleb had “another spirit.”

Their’s was a spirit of discouragement and defeat. They’d given up on the idea of the Promised Land before they even sat foot in it themselves. Neal A. Maxwell was quoted saying “Discouragement is not the absence of adequacy but the absence of courage.” Caleb wasn’t worried about the size of the giant, he was excited about the size of the fruit! He knew God would take care of the giant. He had courage!

What about you? Do you have “another spirit?” The children of Israel were living in a camp, and I’m sure the conditions were not the best. The comforts of home were gone, and the menu of life had limitations. But here they stood on brink of happiness and contentment like they’d never known and they believed the evil report over the good. That’s not good enough for me. I refuse to allow the evil report of the day, that I see on the morning and evening news, to discourage me and plant a seed of despair in my mind. I know the obstacles that are before us are big, but I serve a bigger God.

I want revival in my soul; the “other spirit.” I spoke over the weekend at a ladies retreat with a goal to stir them up, and I hope I did. But what happens when you stir the pot is that the aroma comes wafting up and into your nostrils, and that thing that you’re cookin’ smells good, and excites your soul with the joy of what’s to come. My friend Loretta, who also spoke, read this scripture about Caleb and the other spirit. It added to seasoning to my soul this weekend and I could feel that spirit of revival stirring again in my soul. I know what’s to come!

This world is temporary– we are in tents. But that other land, that Promised Land is coming. Don’t spend your time in the tents discouraged, enjoy the journey. When adversity and opposition come against you, think of it as a strength building exercise to carry the fruit God’s going to provide. We’ll have battles, there can be no victory without it. When the naysayers come and tell you that it’s no use to get excited about what the Lord is doing, tell them you have “another Spirit.” The Holy Spirit! The naysayers among the children of Israel died without receiving their reward. Don’t do it.